LOKI my long term project.... (help often needed)

[dapinky]

so the elise steering wheel has arrived and holding it upto my brg (which has the steering wheel removed) im a little confused, ive looked at 2 threads discussing the fitment but im still not 100% my biggest puzzle is over the collapsable hub, the standard fair has four holes to attatch to the column, fair enough, the elise does too but the confussion comes when i compare the way the wheels are attatched to the hub, the elans has 6 bolts but the elise doesnt seem to have any, so im assuming the bolts that hold the hub onto the column also hold the wheel to the hub which is hidden inside the steering wheel!??? Id search for more posts but for some reason i just keep getting no results found on the advanced search.

Matt,

I have done a write-up somewhere (on the wiki as well) on the steering wheel swap....

....basically, the elan hub needs to be unbolted from the elan steering wheel and then bolted to the elise wheel - the colapsable spacer doesnt get used with the elise wheel, as the hub just bolts up to the wheel with 4 M6 bolts/nuts, or alternatively, you can use the colapsable spacer, but fitted on the other side of the steering wheel (i.e. just using it as if it were a set of 4 captive nuts on the threaded bits, but not being collapsable - does that make sence????) Personally, i don't use it, and just hold the hub to the wheel with 25mm long M6 bolts/nuts - however, should you need to remove the elise wheel at any stage in the future, the colapsable spacer is used as a surface to operate the puller on to get the hub off the spline, so if you don't use it, you will need to adapt something else to do the job!) - it should all become apparrent when you lookm at the bits in front of you...

[MattDon]

i think your thread was one of the ones i read, i just couldnt get my head around it, but youve cleared it up perfectly thankyou. I know there are a few screws that realy dont want to come off and the whole pulling (and i'll assume pushing back on) is going to be tricky, but think im sorted.

i seem to be on a roll tonight, so i'll try this question again, where should i mount my crossovers? theyre about 2" deep and about 5" diameter, i know they need to be as close to the woofer as possible but i just cant think where i could put them.

[MattDon]

so the elise steering wheel is on, taken for a gental drive just to make sure everything is on right and it feels great, i ended up using a sissor jack instead of a puller, i wouldnt recommend it to anyone but it did work, i had to drill off my old steering wheel so turning back wasnt an option, only issue i have now is that i dont think the horn is earthing, i did attatch an earth lead to one of the four bolts holding the wheel on but that doesnt apper to be working (or the horn is broken) ive got a tester thingy but am not 100% on how it works. Im realy looking forward to trying it through some twisty bits, the steering weight realy isnt an issue at low speed, and i can see the dials just fine so all in all im very happy.

[lotusgirlmarie]

Had a feeling you would be. Piccies?

[MattDon]

ive not taken any piccies but i have most of the bits so i could do a detailed write up. Its on properly with a working horn, i hadnt tightened the bolt fully so the electrical contacts wernt meeting

All in all im very happy, it does feel much more chuckable, and ive not notice much difference in weight it just feels more direct, the only down side is im enjoying chucking it around more and that going to cost me in tyres, my only minor gripe is that having big hands i find the elise wheel slightly less comfortable as i can endup grabbing the back of the wheel, hard to explain but not a big issue.

im thinking daves short shift is the next step, i think the car will be transformed between hispec, mountain, elise wheel, good tyres and daves shortshift... oh and the turbo when i get it fitted.

[paulwatkins]

im thinking daves short shift is the next step, i think the car will be transformed between hispec, mountain, elise wheel, good tyres and daves shortshift... oh and the turbo when i get it fitted.

All this sounds familiar!

The short-shift is a great upgrade, and real easy to fit as well!

[MattDon]

but im scared!!!! lol. ive been waiting to get this in for a year now, i was waiting (for 6 of those months) for AB cables but i cant afford them, and was told i might aswell fit the shortshift and replace the cables if/when they do break.

If there is anyone nearby ish, that has done this before and is confident, who i could bribe id love to get this done.

failing that i supposed i could stalk dave, think thats quite a drive though.

got an oil change to do aswell but im hoping i can manage that one myself. totaly over phased by weights etc, but think i read mobil 1 10w30 was about right!?! I know i need an oil change coz my tappets are tapping again.

[CRAMBURY RS]

drop some seafoam in there before you swap out the oil, will break off a lot of gunk with just a day's worth of driving.

also, the cables shouldn't be too hard. they only fit one way on transmission, have a few nuts here and there, then just pull and reinstall. i can't figure it being any more difficult than that. granted, you have to remove the shifter boot and center piece.

[RichardK]

Matt,

If you can set it up with Dave I would drive to Whitley Bay - I drove to Dave's from Hampshire via Inverness during the summer, great drive - 90% top down too!

I do have some spare cables in the boot just in case my original cables break - but after 4K miles no problems and the short shift has transformed the car.

Spray WD-40 at the linkage everyday for a week to help things loosen up down there.......

Sounds like we are following a similar path - Elise wheel, etc can't wait for the Turbo.......

[MattDon]

thanks for the tips.

So i took the car for a drive today, around 150miles, i noticed the tappets getting noisey quite quickly so pulled over and topped up with oil and checked the level.... 1L went in with no mark on the dip stick..... a second litre and it just hit the stick, ended up putting 3 litres in.... now ive never had a car before but im assuming this isnt good, i have no big leaks or id see the stains on my drive, and it had new oil 6 months ago. So now im worried about what damage i may have done. Any tips? apart from check your oil levels more than once every 6 months also theres a noise coming from the engine bay, i thought it was the tappets at first but i know that noise and this is different, no noise in neutral, cant hear it in first, and it builds up with speed rather than RPM, sounds similar to the tappets. do i worry or hope it just goes away like my oil warning light... (i joke)

[paulwatkins]

ended up putting 3 litres in....

Flippin heck Matt, you only need 3.5l for a complete oil change!

If its gone down that much in 6 months, its burning some serious oil. Mine uses a fair bit, but no-where near that much

[Specky]

Compression test and sniffer check... followed by a quick visual of the block for leaks

TTFN

[MattDon]

compression test, i understand but a sniffer test???? Are we talking big £££

yeh it suparised me too, id been reading up on oil changes as i though it must be due one so i knew how much is should hold. I was told my sump was poorly as id hit a concealed jump and grounded it out, but i was told it wasnt urgent, maybe theres a small leak and im burning the rest off? I was hoping as i kept checking the dip stick that somewhere in that long tunnel the oil was being wiped off, but that turned out not to be the case. I think ive got some big money to spend soon atleast if i can find the cash i can get the turbo put in belts changed and everything checked over in one go. why oh why didnt i save some birthday money

[MattDon]

ok so todays news... the noise in the engine was more noticable today, it doesnt occur when its cold, and still as described as above. Im realy worried and when its bad it sounds like a tractor.

help

[RayD]

Matt,

What oil pressure reading do you get at various points...cold tickover...cold 2000rpm...warm tickover...warm 3000rpm?

Ray

[Specky]

compression test, i understand but a sniffer test???? Are we talking big £££

Nope... It just tests the coolant for hydro carbons..(block tester)

30-40 quid should buy you both bitz of equipment...

TTFN

[MattDon]

thankyou for the replies guys, much apriciated, as im realy worried. I'll check the oil pressure in a little bit and see if i can get hold of a compression tester and a block tester.

I realy have no idea about this kinda thing, so id be interested in what it is we're looking for or trying to rule out.

[RayD]

Matt,

With regard to the oil pressure...

In round figures...the engine holds 3½ litres of oil including the amount in the filter, say a ¼ litre, and then another ¼ litre coating all the various surfaces...which only leaves 3 litres in the sump and you had to put 3 litres in to get it back up to the level.

On the face of it, prior to you stopping to fill up there was no oil in the sump and the crank and cam shaft bearings may have been starved of oil.

Due to the position of the oil pressure sensor in the engine it gives an indication the bearings are in good order.

To maintain the pressure the bearing surfaces need to be in close proximity to each other...you can imagine if a bearing was badly worn the oil would just leak out of the sides and the oil pressure would drop.

There are a couple of things that could have happened that might save the day...your dip stick might not be the correct one...too short...compare it with your other Elan

And the damage to the sump may have reduced the overall oil requirement for your engine.

Hope this helps,

Ray

[MattDon]

oil pressures

cold tickover 5 bar
cold 3000rpm 5.5 bar
warm tickover 2.5 bar
warm 3000rpm 5 bar


how did i do?

i got a compression tester but im not sure what values im looking for. also i dont have (and cant afford) a torque wrench should i leave this or give it a shot?

[RayD]

The oil pressure seems OK Matt,

I’d now check you have the correct dipstick and it’s seating down properly.

Double check the oil level and make sure there isn’t too much in.

The compression of each of the cylinders will depend on the mileage; I assume it’s around 150psi (check other posts on the subject) it’s also a good thing if they are same as each other.

What was the torque wrench for?

Ray